Like Durant, Irving tired of chatter

Like Durant, Irving tired of chatter

1of2BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - FEBRUARY 07: Kyrie Irving #11 of the Boston Celtics looks on during the second half against the Los Angeles Lakers at TD Garden on February 07, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images

2of2The Celtics’ Kyrie IrvingPhoto: Stephen M. Dowell / TNS

Warriors forward Kevin Durant isn’t the only All-Star fed up with free-agency speculation.

Asked Wednesday about a recent viral video of him talking to Durant in the hallway at All-Star weekend, Boston guard Kyrie Irving detailed the toll such chatter can take on players and teams.

“I don’t dissect it at all,” Irving told reporters. “I disconnect. So, anybody’s stories or social media, like, I’m completely off it. I just don’t have the care for it. It ruins locker rooms. It ruins, like, confidence in people. And it’s just a fictitious way of feeling validated in the world. So, it really doesn’t matter to me.”

The video in question led many to wonder whether Irving, who could be seen holding up two fingers, was discussing the two max-salary slots the Knicks freed up by dealing Kristaps Porzingis to Dallas last month. Since news of the Porzingis trade broke, rumors have swirled that Irving and Durant — close friends who have long praised each other’s games — could sign with New York this summer.

Durant became so frustrated with the speculation that, after not speaking publicly for eight days, he used a postgame news conference to rail against media coverage of his pending free agency. That contentious exchange seemed to amplify the chatter, however, and many have been looking to any possible sign that Durant intends to team with Irving this summer.

When the video of Irving talking to Durant in the hallway surfaced on Twitter, social media was abuzz with speculation about what they were saying. It fueled the public’s curiosity when Irving was the only All-Star to remain on the court for Durant’s All-Star Game MVP ceremony and, later, when the two were spotted together at a Miami restaurant.

“What I do with my life is my business,” Irving said. “So, it’s none of yours, it’s not anybody’s business, right? So, it’s a video of me and one of my best friends talking, and then it turns out to be a dissection of a free-agency meeting? Do you get that? Like, do you get that? And then I’m asked questions about it? That's what disconnects me from all that s—.”

Connor Letourneau moved to the Golden State Warriors beat in September 2016 after a year covering Cal. Previously, he spent two years covering the Oregon State Beavers for The Oregonian. Letourneau is a University of Maryland alum who has interned for The Baltimore Sun and blogged for The New York Times. A Portland, Ore., native, he is interested in telling the stories that extend beyond the field or court.